538 Florida Entomologist 88(4) December 2005

GYNAIKOTHRIPS UZELI (THYSANOPTERA: PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE) IN THE

SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES: DISTRIBUTION AND REVIEW OF BIOLOGY

DAVID W. HELD1, DAVID BOYD2, TIM LOCKLEY3 AND G. B. EDWARDS4

1
Mississippi State University Coastal Research and Extension Center,
1815 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, MS 39532
E-mail: david.held@msstate.edu

2
USDA-ARS Southern Horticultural Laboratory. P.O. Box 287. Poplarville, MS 39470
E-mail: dboyd@ars.usda.gov

3
Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce Bureau of Plant Industry
P.O. Box 5207, Mississippi State, MS 39762
E-mail: tim@mdac.state.ms.us

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Plant Industry

P.O. Box 147100, 1911 SW 34th St., Gainesville, FL 32614-7100
E-mail: edwardg@doacs.state.fl.us

In 2003, an exotic species of thrips, Gynaiko-
thrips uzeli Zimmerman (Thysanoptera: Phlaeo-
thripidae) was reported from infested leaf galls on
weeping fig, Ficus benjamina (Moraceae), in Flor-
ida. It was first reported from five counties in
Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Orange
and Palm Beach). Later in 2003, Highlands
County was added to the Florida records. Collec-
tions of this species were also made in Alachua,
Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Hillsborough,
Lake, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Monroe, Pinellas,
Santa Rosa, and Volusia counties in Florida in
2004 (Fig. 1).
In the United States Gynaikothrips uzeli was
not thought to occur outside of Florida until leaf
galls and adults were collected on 5-X-2004 from
a containerized Ficus benjamina in Long Beach,
Harrison County, MS by D. Held. From October
2004 to January 2005, twenty additional collec-
tions of live G. uzeli on galled weeping fig were
made in Mississippi in Harrison, Hancock,
George, Lamar, and Pearl River counties; from Al-
abama in Mobile and Baldwin counties; and in
Louisiana from Washington and St. Tammany
parishes. In addition, this species was also col-
lected from an unidentified Ficus sp. in Nashville,
TN (Davidson County). Dead G. uzeli were col-
lected from galled F. benjamina in Mississippi in
Desoto and Jackson counties. Most collections of
thrips made in Mississippi were coincident with
recent shipments of Ficus from nurseries in cen-
tral and southern Florida. However, two locations
in Mississippi where G. uzeli was collected had
not received plant material from Florida in 2003
or 2004. Similarly, one plant infested in 2004 with
G. uzeli in Mobile County (AL) was isolated from
other Ficus. These examples suggest that popula-
tions of thrips were already established outside of
Florida, or that its introduction into Florida was
coincident with other, previously undetected sites
in the southeast. The distribution map (Fig. 1)
summarizes all reported occurrences of G. uzeli in
the southeast United States as of March 2005.
The biology of G. uzeli is poorly understood.
However, a related species, Cuban laurel thrips,
Gynaikothrips ficorum (Marchal), has been more
widely studied, and is widespread throughout
tropical and sub-tropical areas of the southeast-
ern U.S. and California. Both species are native to
Southeast Asia including Taiwan, China, and In-
dia (Anathakrishnan 1978; Mound et al. 1995;
Mound & Marullo 1996). The only reported differ-
ence between these two species is the length of
the pronotal posteroangular pair of setae (Mound
et al. 1995). A more practical, but less accurate,
way to distinguish G. uzeli from Cuban laurel
thrips is by host plant association. Mound et al.
(1995) suggests that G. uzeli is the primary gall
maker (i.e., leaf folder) on F. benjamina, whereas
Gynaikothrips ficorum is the primary gall maker
(i.e., leaf roller) on Ficus microcarpa. Ficus ben-
jamina is the only plant on which G. uzeli has
been reported to successfully complete its life cy-
cle (S. Nakahara, personal communication).
Newly-formed galls on F. benjamina are domi-
nated by G. uzeli. As galls age, other thrips includ-
ing gall makers (e.g., G. ficorum and Liothrips
spp.) and predatory thrips (e.g., Androthrips sp.)
inhabit these galls as inquilines (Mound et al.
1995). Additional inquilines in galls formed by
G. ficorum include phytophagous coccids (e.g., cit-
rus mealybug, Planococcus citri Risso), whiteflies
(Aleyroididae), predatory mites, hemipterans,
chrysopids, and parasitic hymenopterans (Tawfik
1967). Leaf galls formed by G. uzeli collected from
F. benjamina plants in MS contained nymphs of
the citrus mealybug, brown soft scale (Coccus
hepseridum L.), and Madeira mealybug (Pheno-
coccus madieriensis Green). Ficus benjamina is
also a host for pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconel-
 Scientific Notes
Fig. 1. Known distribution of Gynaikothrips uzeli in the southeastern United States.
licoccus hirsutus (Green). Pink hibiscus mealy-
bugs and other exotic pests could be inadvertently
transported out of Florida in G. uzeli leaf galls.
Documented natural enemies of G. uzeli have
been collected in association with these galls.
Galls from F. benjamina plants in AL and MS,
made by G. uzeli, yielded predators such as lacew-
ing larvae (Chrysoperla sp.), a minute pirate bug
(Montandoniola moraguesi Puton), and several
unidentified spiders. Also, the eulophid wasp,
Thripastichus gentilei (del Guercio), imported as
a biological control of G. ficorum (LaSalle 1994)
has been collected from mummies of G. uzeli in-
side leaf galls taken from plants in Tennessee, Al-
abama, and Mississippi.
Montandoniola moraguesi was introduced to
Hawaii from the Philippines in 1964, and to Cali-
fornia from Hawaii in 1965 for control of the Cu-
ban laurel thrips (Clausen 1978; Henry 1998).
However, no records of successful establishment
of M. moraguesi in California have been reported
(Paine 1992). This predator has been established
in Florida on plantings of Ficus infested with
thrips (Dobbs & Boyd 2006). Thripastichus gen-
tilei (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is a parasitoid
that specializes on phlaeothripine thrips, espe-
539
cially Gynaikothrips spp., Hoplothrips sp., and Li-
othrips spp. (LaSalle 1993). The combination of
the anthocorid predator and the parasitoid could
possibly keep populations of G. uzeli at low num-
bers. Collections of both M. moraguesi and T. gen-
tilei are new species records for Mississippi, Ala-
bama, and Tennessee.
Entomopathogens were not observed inside
galls from any field collection. The only fungus ob-
served was on thrips reared in closed containers
inside an environmental chamber. It was a white
fungal growth found on dead G. uzeli inside leaf
galls. These dead thrips appeared to be adhered
to the leaf by the fungus. Bennett (1965) reported
that some dead G. ficorum found inside field-col-
lected galls were covered with a white fungal
mycelium, however this fungus was not identi-
fied. Live thrips in these same galls did not be-
come infected, nor could an infection be induced
when dead, infected thrips were placed in galls
with healthy thrips (unpublished data). Based on
this, the unidentified fungus is likely saprophytic.
Thrips reported from Tennessee were collected
by F. Hale (Univ. of Tennessee). Thrips collected in
Long Beach, Mississippi and in Nashville, Ten-
nessee were confirmed as G. uzeli by G. B. Ed-
540 Florida Entomologist 88(4)
wards. Homopteran gall inquilines were identi-
fied by G. Hodges (Florida Dep. Agric. and Con-
sumer Serv.). Voucher specimens of G. uzeli and
T. gentilei were deposited in the Mississippi Ento-
mology Museum, Starkville. Jianzhong Sun, Jack
Reed, and Christine Coker (Mississippi State
University) provided helpful comments on an ear-
lier draft of this manuscript. This paper is No. J-
10726 of the Mississippi Agricultural and For-
estry Experiment Station.
SUMMARY
Leaf galls on Ficus benjamina containing im-
mature and adult Gynaikothrips uzeli were col-
lected from containerized plants in the landscape
and at retail outlets in Mississippi, Louisiana,
Tennessee, and Alabama. This thrips, first re-
ported in 2003 on weeping figs in south Florida,
and certain associated natural enemies appear to
be spreading across the southeast through move-
ment of infested plants.
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